The House of Hades
by Sosie98
Summary: "They'd fallen so far she couldn't quite remember where they were falling from." Percy and Annabeth are left haunted by both their past and their future. A collection of one-shots, each AU. All revolve around Percy and Annabeth's time in and out of Tartarus. "Hades was crossing his legs, which coul've been funny if not for the situation." Percy/Annabeth Percabeth
1. Falling into the Future

_Oh Gods! I just finished Mark of Athena and OHMYGAWD! I sobbed into my pillow for like an hour. I had this crazy idea for a sequel after reading it, so I hope you guys are satisfied with this one-shot. I think this would be the perfect twist in the series! _

She had long since forgotten what they were falling towards. Maybe it was towards death, maybe towards the center of the Earth. Maybe they had done it on purpose. Maybe they had jumped off a bridge and didn't realize how far it would be till they hit the water. Either way, they were still falling, hand in hand. She didn't see the end until it hit them. A pinprick of light that grew larger so fast that she felt as if she was the person in the drunk driving commercials who didn't see the semi. Faces flashed before her eyes, so many people that she shouldn't be leaving now, in that microsecond before she hit. People she loved, people who had loved her. People she should probably thank for something. People she should say sorry to.

So it was extremely anticlimactic when she slammed into something soft. Not soft enough that it didn't hurt, but soft enough that she didn't break every bone in her body… except that ankle that was already broken. That was excruciating. She rolled out of the way onto the floor before he crushed her, and he landed the same way she had, face first onto that couch that smelled so familiar it could be home. He leaned over the side of the couch and threw up onto the floor. That smell was familiar too, blood and vomit. Two things that any normal person should never have to witness together.

He sat up from his heaving and looked over at her. Her ankle was throbbing and horribly swollen, a pain that radiated from the point of break up into her head. He knelt down next to her and just stared at it, holding her hand. His face was whiter than she had seen it in a long time. How long of a time she didn't know. She looked around. They were in an apartment. An apartment with a pristine kitchen and a quaint little bathroom. This was a place she could've sworn she'd been in before. But no. There was something strange about this place. So similar, but so different. She couldn't imagine where they were.

"Is this hell?" he whispered, looking over at her.

"I don't know." She whispered back. She tried to sit up next to him but immediately fell back. It hurt too badly to move.

"I thought that's where we were headed, but…" he paused, "I know this place."

She nodded, but then suddenly he gasped and got to his feet, "I-I think I might have an idea."

He moved to walk towards the hallway, but she held a hand up, "Don't leave me."

He nodded and picked her up like a child, cradling her. Her arm went around his neck. They moved down the hallway, the farthest bedroom door was closed, but there was movement and a whispered conversation. The inhabitants must have heard their quick entrance. He ducked into the nearest room, one painted blue, the color of the sea. He set her down on the bed, uncapped his sword, set it on the nightstand and looked around. The drawers seemed to have been undisturbed for years. Dust covered their contents, some of which were hanging out lazily at odd angles, like the person had been getting dressed quickly. He picked up a shirt and held it up to himself.

He turned to her, "I think this was mine."

She nodded, but couldn't imagine why his clothes would have been brought down to Hell, if that's where they were. He opened the closet door and looked inside. That same organized mess was there too. It was as if… as if…

"Did I- did I live here?"

She looked up at him and nodded, "I think so. I remember being here… I- I remember crying with…oh… I don't know."

She put her head in her hands and just started to sob. He laid down on the bed next to her and held her tight. "It'll be okay," he promised, "We'll be fine."

"I feel useless," she said, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Never ever ever." He whispered into her hair.

They didn't remember falling asleep.

…

The next morning they woke to a woman standing above them. Her hair was pure white, her skin was wrinkled, but her eyes were young and kind. Her kinky curls looked tired and frizzy, but in a strange way she was beautiful. It only took him thirty seconds to back the woman against a wall with his knife to her throat. She protested, explained herself and he let her go. An older man walked into the room, obviously awakened by the commotion and stood beside the old woman. They stared down at the two of them like they were seeing a vision.

"Who are you?" He stood in front of her, holding his sword out like a spear: protecting them.

"Percy…" the woman said, her white hair falling like a veil over half of her face.

"I said who are you? Answer me now or you'll suffer the consequences."

Tears filled her eyes, "I'm your mother, Percy! Annabeth, please, for the love of God, tell him to back down."

"How do you know my name?" she whispered, holding his arm just a bit tighter.

Percy looked incredulous, "My mother? I know what she looks like, and you're not her."

"It's been twenty years!" she sobbed, "Do you expect me to look the same?"

"Twenty…" Annabeth gasped, "Percy, that's why this place looked so familiar! This was your apartment! Do you remember, Percy? Don't you? It's only been changed a little. You came here everyday for years… I can't believe…"

"We've been falling for twenty years." He said, sitting down on the comforter next to her, "Everyone's probably… what… almost forty by now? Oh Gods…" and then he stood up and started to cry, "I'm sorry Mom."

She accepted his hug easily, but only held him for a second before letting him go. He went back to the bed and took Annabeth's hand, leaning his head against the wall. Then suddenly he shot up and stared at her.

"We were falling towards Tartarus weren't we?"

Annabeth bit her lip and nodded. She'd realized it just minutes ago.

"So…"

"Tartarus is Earth," she whispered, "The monsters keep reforming because they have nowhere else to go. The darkest place in the universe is Earth itself."

_So… I was kind of going for this haunted Percy and Annabeth that would never regain that happiness they've had for so long. Basically I was picturing that Percy Jackson we all know and love… the one who always knows what to say and the best retarded jokes to use, and revert him to a man of a few words. Someone who's been so scarred by events in his life that he doesn't get any enjoyment out of it anymore. The same for Annabeth… almost like her wisdom has been incapacitated by a constant fear of what's going to happen next. Both of their lives so intertwined that if something happened to the other they would kill themselves. Yeah… I know… pretty dang dark. But this needed to be written. _


	2. Clemency

_Definitely AU. These are all separate one-shots, but there may be a sequel to this one. Let me know what you think. I did NOT proofread this, but I am almost certain there are no errors. I REALLY hope you like it. You'll see an update to In With the Storm hopefully in the next couple of days. _

Clemency

By Sofia

They had been walking for hours across the barren landscape, Annabeth on Percy's back, before they sat down. Resting his head against her shoulder, Percy fell asleep and Annabeth sat up straighter for first watch. Truth is, for the deepest depths of hell, Tartarus wasn't much of a sight to behold. True, it was seemingly endless and there were plenty of sharp objects to kill yourself tripping over, but they hadn't met one monster. And that made Annabeth nervous.

Had that many monsters escaped through the Doors of Death already? Or did Hades have plans for them… the latter was much more likely. Annabeth and Percy had been down into the Underworld too many times for the Lord of the Dead not to take notice. And the fact that he obviously knew they had a quest to tamper with the very quintessence of his realm couldn't have helped matters.

Annabeth looked down at her ankle… more swollen than ever. Sure, Percy had set it (and re-set it and re-set it), but neither of them had ever claimed to be the greatest medics. At this point it was _probably_ healing incorrectly which meant that when she got home one of the Apollo kids would have to re break it. That was not going to be fun. But what was she thinking? They needed to figure out a way to get out of the Underworld before bothering with their health. It wasn't as if her ankle was going to kill her. It was just a nuisance.

It was then that she heard something. A rushing sound just quick enough that it was covered up with a blink. And suddenly, when she opened her eyes, she was somewhere else. A giant hall with several large Corinthian order engaged columns. Yeah… Annabeth was a bit too into architecture. She barely had time to take in her surroundings before she was hauled to her feet. Beside her, a man in a dark suit of armor had an iron grip on her arm. Or maybe it wasn't a man behind the mask. The thing's eyes seemed to bore into her soul, if there were any eyes there. She gingerly put some weight on her foot and almost screamed. Thank God the little sound she made woke Percy up. He was on his feet in seconds.

Sadly, a second suit of armor was faster. He had such a strong hold on the back of Percy's shirt that Percy was lifted up in the air. He kicked as hard as he could, a bit frantically to be honest, but the thing wouldn't put him down. Annabeth wished her suit of armor would pick her up, her ankle was killing her. Very slowly, the suits forced the two of through a peristyle towards an even larger chamber. Just above eye level Annabeth saw two thrones sitting side by side, both made of an onyx so shiny it almost made her eyes burn. And that was before she saw who was sitting in them.

Hades was crossing his legs… which could've been funny if not for the situation. He stared down them with an expression of pleasant interest, an interest that hadn't been there the last time they'd met. The two suits of armor dropped them on the floor and Percy got to his feet, put his arm around Annabeth and pulled her up with him. They had been taught at Camp never to remained seated in front of a God. It showed a relaxed air that they found "disrespectful". At this point Annabeth didn't really care what Hades thought of her as long as she was off her ankle, but Percy was half supporting her weight, so she wasn't _suffering_. Yeah…. Not suffering was a positive. That was what she had been reduced to.

"What do _you_ want?" Percy growled. Not a good start to a conversation.

"Oh… nothing much," Hades said with a lazy smile, "Just some pleasant conversation. Don't get much of that down in the land of the dead."

"You could have had some pleasant conversation with your son if you had saved him from rotting in a jar for a week."

"Ah… yes," Hades nodded, "I thought it best for him to understand what it means to _truly _suffer. A son of Hades has to grow up sometime."

Annabeth grimaced, "I think Nico grew up quite enough during the Titan War. He's too young to have been through so much."

"And yet you have been through more, Ms. Chase. Do you think _my _son is less than you?"

"No, Lord Hades. I never said that."

"Your ankle is broken, Ms. Chase."

"I hadn't noticed."

Hades snapped his fingers and Annabeth screamed. Percy had a hand on her arm so fast it was like he'd apparated. She breathed slowly.

"Are you okay?" he sounded so scared it was heart breaking, "What did you do to her?"

"It's fine, Percy," she whispered, "I'm fine. He fixed my ankle."

She moved it around gingerly and pulled off the makeshift splint.

Annabeth frowned up at Hades who was smiling contentedly, "Why did you do that?"

"What?" he said with a smile, "The God of the Dead can't be nice?"

"I didn't think…"

But then it was Percy's turn to yell.

"Dude!" he said, "Please stop freaking me out."

Annabeth looked over at him. Hades had revamped Percy's wardrobe to the extreme. He was dressed in some sort of hipster chic with tight pants, a loose shirt, and skater shoes. He looked like… like… sexier than Justin Bieber. As if that was even possible.

Annabeth looked down at herself and almost died laughing. She was wearing a white thigh length dress, so short, in Annabeth's book, that it should be outlawed. The combat boots she was wearing didn't help. Too bad Hades didn't have that bad of a taste in style.

Annabeth smiled as she looked up at him now, "What…?"

"You two have been down into my realm too many times to be punished."

"And…?" Percy looked up at him expectantly.

"I have deemed you on my level, Mr. Jackson," Hades said smugly, "So I grant you clemency."

Annabeth's mouth dropped open and Percy laughed breathily as if he couldn't even believe what was happening.

"I…"

"And if I am to allow you this privilege, I will grant you a ways home."

Annabeth started to cry.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Ms." The God said, rolling his eyes, "You've won over Hades. Now… get out of my site and _don't come back. _Or you might just be stuck in Tartarus forever next time."

Hades snapped his fingers and Annabeth was staring at Percy's front door.

_Sequel or no? Comment please! I LOVE YOU ALL!_

_Much love,_

_Sofia_


	3. Worried

_Thanks for the reviews! I love you all and I love getting feedback for my story. Please continue to do so(: Also, I want to point out things that things might be technically wrong with my story, because you know… I'm not Jesus. And everybody makes mistakes. And I'm not exactly an expert on Greek Mythology. I'm just basing my knowledge off of HoO and some creative stuff running around in my head. _

Annabeth didn't know how long they'd been wandering in Tartarus, but she figured it hadn't been that long. From the frigid air of New York City and the smell of cooking food, it had to be Thanksgiving and as she and Percy stood outside of his mother's apartment in the freezing cold, Annabeth couldn't help but wonder why no one was opening the door. It was Thanksgiving for God's sakes! Wasn't this the season of hospitality?

Annabeth rang the doorbell again and Percy handed her his jacket as he went to look for the spare key.

"Any reason they wouldn't be answering?" she asked, looking down at his butt sticking out of the bushes.

"My mom has this tradition of not answering the door during the holidays." He emerged triumphant with a key in his hand, "I guess it's not as fun when you're the one at the door."

Percy stuck the key in the lock and turned it as quietly as he could, not wanting to freak out whoever was inside. Annabeth sighed as the feeling of a heater hit them. Her fingers felt numb as she shrugged off Percy's jacket and stuck it on the hook next to the door. The smell of cooking food made her stomach growl. She hadn't eaten anything but a slice of bread since she'd fallen into that gaping hole to the underworld.

But suddenly Annabeth heard a voice that made her quite a bit less hungry. It was a voice she'd heard a million times before. Yelling at her to go to bed. Telling her she was _way_ too young to move out. Annabeth practically growled at the thought. Percy put a hand on her on her shoulder and gave a look of warning. Obviously he recognized the voice too, and wasn't about to let Annabeth ruin everything with an angry outburst.

"I don't want to go in anymore." Annabeth said, crossing her arms.

"That's a bit immature, don't you think, Anny?"

"Nope. If you knew them then you would understand."

"C'mon," he said, smiling at her, "You want to see _my_ mom, don't you?"

"You think she'll let me borrow some clothes? I feel ridiculous."

Percy laughed, "Well, you look totally hot, if that's any consolation."

"It totally is."

She hugged him and inched her way down the hallway.

The dining table had been extended to an unnatural level and it seemed like everyone was there (well, everyone who was anyone). Why Mrs. Jackson had invited them, Annabeth didn't know, but it did seem like a kind gesture. Maybe it was some kind Percy and Annabeth life celebration dinner. That would be an awesome thing to walk in on. Percy had his turn doing that. Annabeth figured she should get a shot.

At the head of the table were Annabeth's parents. Her stepmother was dressed like an old woman, in some sort of Paisley fabric and high-waisted pants. Her father didn't look much better. His glasses seemed to reflect his intelligence, but still managed to make him look like a dork.

Annabeth was so hungry. And all the food looked so good. But she hadn't decided just how to go about revealing herself before Percy knocked at the doorframe and pulled her into the spotlight. It took Mrs. Jackson about five seconds to throw her arms around them. Annabeth buried her face in her neck and sobbed. She didn't remember when Mrs. Jackson had gotten so short. She just remembered one day looking down instead of up.

Annabeth looked over Mrs. Jackson's shoulder to her parents who were staring at her with the blankest look on their faces. Like they were just now seeing what they'd been missing out on all this time. But in the next ten seconds their faces were blocked from view because Thalia was there, and Grover, and Piper, and Leo and Jason… and there was Nico, and Paul… and yet it seemed like the weight of the world was on Annabeth's shoulders, because she knew her parents hadn't gotten up from their seats at the head of the table.

As the crowd broke apart and Annabeth wiped her eyes, Percy walked over to her brothers who were sitting on either side of her parents and sat down next to them, roughing up their hair.

"Percy!" they yelled, practically bouncing out of their seats. They were rabbits on steroids.

"Hey bros," Percy said, sitting down and eating off of Thalia's plate, "How've you been?"

"Great!" said Matthew, his brown eyes sparkling, "Mommy and Daddy got us the Death Star lego set when we went to Disney! Can you believe it?"

"No way!" Percy smiled, "You have to show me!"

Matthew catapulted himself from his seat but Percy put a hand out to stop him, "After dinner, bud."

"Oh… yeah, right." Matthew nodded and went back to his coleslaw.

Annabeth sat down next to Percy and rubbed her eyes. "Gods… what a day."

Percy winked at her, "Eat food, Ms. Chase. You could be a Halloween decoration."

She nodded and wolfed down half of Thalia's mashed potatoes. They were probably going to get murdered when Thalia got back to her seat (If Thalia cared about anything, it was her food… and she was always hungry.), but, hey… it was worth it.

"Hey mom," Percy yelled across the room, "Can Annabeth borrow some clothes, please?"

Mrs. Jackson looked up from setting up more chairs, "Sure, sweetheart," she smiled, "But don't throw away that dress! I'll get it dry cleaned or something, but don't you dare…"

"I promise, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth smiled, "I went down that road once and I promise it won't happen again."

Thalia pushed Percy off her chair and explained, "The last time some Goddess thought they would do good and help Annabeth with her fashion sense (which is nonexistent), she threw the dress away because it had a single stain."

"And I will never live it down." Annabeth grinned, scooping up one more spoonful of Thalia's potatoes before heading off to Mrs. Jackson's room.

Percy picked himself up off the floor and sat down next to Thalia.

"See what I mean," said Mrs. Chase, putting down her napkin and turning to Percy's mother, "She hasn't spoken a word to us since we got here."

"Maybe she's just in a state of shock, Mary." Mrs. Jackson said, finally sitting down after extending the table, "I've seen it happen before."

"If that's true she's been in a state of shock her entire life." Mr. Chase rubbed his eyes, in a way Percy had seen Annabeth do a thousand times.

"Percy," his mother said, turning to him, "Did something happen down there that we should know? Did Annabeth… was she ever…"

"No," Percy said instantly, pushing his hair out of his eyes, "I didn't leave her alone for a second. I promise. Nothing like that happened. Nothing like that has _ever _happened."

"Well that's good," said Mrs. Chase, "but that still leaves us in the same place we started in."

"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Percy asked, even though he already knew the answer, "See if something's up?"

"Please," said Mr. Chase with a nod and a sip of his sweet tea.

"But no funny business, Percy," Mrs. Jackson said with a smirk, "I got a disciplinary call about you two a few weeks ago from Coach, and I honestly don't want a repeat."

Percy rolled his eyes, "I have my witnesses. That was blown _way_ out of proportion."

Laughter followed him into his Mom's room.

…

When Percy walked in Annabeth was picking through his mother's closet piece by piece, her hair falling in her eyes so much that she had to keep pulling it back. She had a pair of jeans flung over her shoulder and a pair of his old red high tops that Mrs. Jackson had hidden because he'd worn them so much.

"Hey." He whispered… so quietly that Annabeth jumped.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, "Hey. Scouting out my problems for my parents, eh?"

"How could you tell?" he asked, collapsing on the floor of the closet.

"I'm Professor X."

"Your action movie references never cease to surprise me…but seriously, what's going on? I could feel the tension in the air."

"Was it as thick as syrup?"

"Almost as thick, yes. But… seriously, Annabeth."

"Sorry," she found another piece of clothing and threw it on the floor next to him, "It's just… I know your mom's not going to like me as much anymore if my parents tell her all these horror stories of me as a child, and how much of a witch I was. Or how much of a witch _they_ think I was. It makes me really mad that they're here. Everytime they come… oh, they just ruin everything."

Percy looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"And yeah, I know that sounded immature but I really can't help it. My parents never gave me the chance to have a childhood. They just tossed me out on the street and…whenever I'm around them that irritating child in me comes back again. The one that never got a chance to live."

Annabeth looked down at him and set her mouth in a grim line. She looked heartbroken but comical and Percy got to his feet and handed her the clothes she'd so violently piled up.

"Go change, take five breaths and feel better," Percy said, and she nodded and took them.

"In a few months this is all going to be over," Annabeth said sadly, "And you and I both know we probably won't survive this time."

"We'll luck out… we always have before."

"Percy, we can't be lucky forever."

"Is this what's really bothering you? You think we're going to be dead within the year?"

"No… it's just…"

"Maybe you've forgotten Annabeth, but I know what that feels like. To know that I'm going to die. Did you forget all the years leading up to when I turned sixteen?"

"I don't need your help, Percy. It's just nerves. I'll get through this on my own."

"Everyone needs help sometimes. You need to start excepting that you can't do everything on your own."

"I can," Annabeth yelled, and then quieted and sat down on the edge of the bed, "I have to. I don't want everyone else to get involved in something that just _may_ be all my fault."

Percy sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth.

"We'll be fine," he whispered in her ear, "We'll be fine."

"That's just great," Annabeth grumbled, "The last time you said that we ended up in Tartarus."

_Haha(: Love you all sooo much!_

_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW_

_Love,_

_Sofia_


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